Southeastern League Sponsors Televised Florida Senatorial Debate

The League of Southeastern Credit Unions’ Cooperative Image Campaign said it will receive statewide and potentially national exposure Wednesday night when the league sponsors of a U.S. Senatorial debate between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and his Republican challenger, Rep. Connie Mack IV.

“This is a unique opportunity for credit unions and one that we’ve typically not seen before,” said LSCU President/CEO Patrick La Pine. “The debate will air in every television market in the state. Through our Cooperative Image Campaign, we already have a logo and website that promote all of our credit unions. We think this is a great way to showcase our credit unions.”

The league said it will be just one of four sponsors for the event. Through the sponsorship agreement, credit unions in Florida will be mentioned at the beginning of the broadcast and again at the end. Additionally, a 30-second advertisement will run during the broadcast and a 4’x8’ credit union banner will hang in the hall.

The credit union logo is also on the debate website and prominently displayed in newspaper ads promoting the event.

“With the attention this senatorial race and the debate are generating, we feel that promoting credit unions during the broadcast makes sense. Our data from the Image Campaign this summer shows that when people see ads promoting credit unions, they act on it. Our goal is to once again show credit unions are unique, local financial institutions,” said La Pine.

Nelson is one of 21 co-sponsors of S. 2231, the bill that would raise the member business lending cap to 27.5% of assets. A Sept. 25 poll by TheWashington Post reported Nelson holding a 14-point lead over Mack, after the challenger polled neck-in-neck, and in some instances ahead, of Nelson during the summer.

The debate will be held on the Nova Southeastern University campus in Davie, Fla.